Critical Climate Awareness: Re-imagining Climate Change Teaching and Learning

AUTHOR
Heather Freeman Clark, UCLA Urban Schooling Graduate

ABSTRACT
The objective of this dissertation was to design and study a transformative model of climate change education that foregrounded sociopolitical processes and was socially relevant to Black and Latinx urban high school students. The intervention was implemented at the Mann-UCLA Community School in South Los Angeles while distance learning was mandated by the COVID-19 pandemic and was part of a research-practice partnership with a chemistry teacher. Using the Participatory Design Research methodology, I designed the learning context and documented how this instructional model structured classroom engagement and supported the outcomes of learning climate science and developing critical climate awareness. 

Melanin Lit AF: Leveraging Students’ Evolving Perception Around Colorism as Action Through Photo Narratives in the Science Classroom

AUTHOR
Vinh Đức Nguyễn, TEP Graduate

ABSTRACT
This inquiry project aims at providing an opportunity for students studying high school physiology to explore the issues around colorism and how it has been normalized by media and the digital application Snapchat. Students began this project having first gained an understanding of the integumentary system, the layers of skin, and the crucial role and evolution of melanin as a chemical protectant from harmful UV rays. After exploring the content information regarding the integumentary system, mainly through collaborative group work, students then critically examined Snapchat filters to see what patterns and messages Snapchat filters might convey about skin tone—especially which skin tones are desirable and which are not. We then connected our observations on Snapchat filters to advertisements as a way to introduce colorism and how colorism can be insidiously normalized on a sociocultural level. Finally, having established the connection between Snapchat filters and colorism, students engaged in a culminating task in the form of a publicly displayed photo narrative project where students took a photo of themselves holding a sign regarding their attitudes towards their own skin tones. From this inquiry, I can conclude that a critical media literacy approach, one in which many tools are incorporated to help better understand a phenomenon, helped expand students’ awareness of colorism and how it can be normalized through Snapchat filters. In the end, this inquiry is rooted in providing students with an opportunity to affirm and appreciate the melanin and magic within themselves while leveraging their abilities as change agents using Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) frameworks.

Exploring the Challenges and Enablers of Implementing a STEM Project-Based Learning Programme in a Diverse Junior Secondary Context

AUTHOR
K. Wilson

ABSTRACT
In the rush to implement STEM programmes in economically disadvantaged school districts, there is a pressing need to develop a stronger sense of what might be considered effective and appropriate STEM practices for diverse students. The aim of this study was to characterise the experience of implementing an integrated STEM Project-Based Learning (PBL) programme in an Australian secondary school located within a diverse, socio-economically disadvantaged community. To identify enablers and constraints in delivering STEM PBL in this context, the study utilised qualitative data from interviews with school teachers and leaders, school planning documents and an extended series of classroom observations. Key findings point towards the importance of building a school culture that supports innovative pedagogy; the need to purposefully scaffold the capabilities of teachers and students to engage with active learning; and the potential value of multi-dimensional assessment allowing students to demonstrate STEM proficiency through novel forms of evidence.

Wilson, K. (2021). Exploring the challenges and enablers of implementing a STEM project-based learning programme in a diverse junior secondary context. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 19(5), 881-897. 

Summer Learning and Beyond: Opportunities for Creating Equity

ABSTRACT
This report provides a set of six design principles, or stances toward learners and learning, that are essential for creating intellectually rigorous and equitable learning settings. These principles provide a holistic framework for designing goals, practices, and activities for summer learning and beyond. The Six Design Principles for Summer Learning and Beyond include: (1) Center Relationships; (2) Create a Culture of Affirmation and Belonging; (3) Build From Students’ Interests and Take a Whole Child Approach to Their Development; (4) Engage Students’ and Families’ Knowledge in Disciplinary Learning; (5) Provide Creative, Inquiry-Based Forms of Learning; and (6) Address Educator Needs and Learning. The principles are guided by research on learning, which views learning as an essential life function that involves all aspects of what it means to be human. It is at once cognitive, physical, emotional, social, and cultural. This report discusses each design principle and why it is important. It highlights key ideas and practices that are related to each design principle and lists resources and references (hyperlinked in the text) that people can consult to learn more. The report then provides an example to embody the principles in action and in concert with one another.

Bang, M., Bricker, L., Darling-Hammond, L., Edgerton, A., Grossman, P., Gutiérrez, K., … & Vossoughi, S. (2021). Summer Learning and Beyond: Opportunities for Creating Equity. Learning Policy Institute.

Bringing equity to underserved communities through STEM education: implications for leadership development

ABSTRACT
STEM Education is sweeping the United States, prompted primarily by the recent adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards. The surge in interest in STEM Education is beneficial for local schools and communities and promises to positively impact students, teachers, school leaders, community members, and the future workforce. Unfortunately, inequitable hegemonic structures and practices limit urban students’ access to knowledge, resources, and a comprehensive and fair educational experience. This article explores the STEM activities in place at the Center for Innovation in STEM Education (CISE), at a local university in greater Los Angeles. From a historical context, CISE data show that an approach to STEM education that focuses on serving underrepresented populations by creating a pipeline, can serve as an example for K-12 schools, universities, and educational leaders seeking equitable practices in the field of STEM education. We identify implications for leadership development for school leaders, teacher leaders, and districts.

Avendano, L., Renteria, J., Kwon, S., & Hamdan, K. (2019). Bringing equity to underserved communities through STEM education: implications for leadership development. Journal of Educational Administration and History, 51(1), 66-82.

Equity-Centered Design Thinking in STEM Instructional Leadership

ABSTRACT
In the past decade, STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) instructional leaders have struggled with how to interpret and implement K–12 standards-based education so that minoritized learners have equal opportunity to be college and career ready. An equity-centered design thinking approach can support leaders to interrogate the often-time divergent values of stakeholders so they may collaboratively identify and address the problems of practice in STEM education. By considering the ethos and strategies necessary to intentionally center equity by design, this case presents prospective leaders the opportunity to practice converging divergent needs and beliefs about STEM education while they ideate solutions grounded in the experiences of minoritized learners.

Khalil, D., & Kier, M. (2021). Equity-Centered Design Thinking in STEM Instructional Leadership. Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership, 24(1), 69-85.